I'm Coming My Love
by cahawk
Summary: An alternative ending for Wuthering Heights where Heathcliff kills himself after Cathy dies. Enjoy -


**This is how I envisioned the book should have ended, with Heathcliff being unable to live after Cathy died, not living the half life he remains living by torturing others. This was for a school project, but I hope you enjoy it all the same :c)**

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**_I'm Coming My Love_**

Well, you see Mr. Lockwood, I alone in the household knew that Linton was not the only heart broken soul standing sentinel over Catharine's body, so one night I left the window open after coaxing Linton to finally get some much needed rest, giving Heathcliff the opportunity to pay his last respects to his idol, his love, his _soul_. Until the next morning I had no clue if he took the chance, but waking to the anguished cries of my master, I knew that he most definitely had. Flying down the stairs, I entered the drawing room to find Linton sprawled over the open, now empty, coffin, crying in despair. My mistress' body was gone, and only her locket remained, forced open and occupied by a lone black curl, its previous contents, Linton's own hair, no where to be seen. Naturally, the only conclusion I could reach was that the fiend snatched her away in the dead of the night, disturbing her eternal rest and taking her to do lord knows what. Afraid to tell my master what I'd done, I snuck out of the room and asked Michael to saddle up a horse. Desperately I soared over the moor towards the Heights, afraid of what would await me and ready to plead to Heathcliff to let my poor Miss Catharine rest in peace.

Upon reaching the Heights, I found the gate unlocked and I snuck through the back door into the kitchen, figuring that Joseph and Hareton would be working in the fields by then, and that I'd be able to give Heathcliff a piece of my mind undisturbed. Storming up the stairs, I made my way to his door and started pounding.

"Heathcliff, open the door this second! You have _no right_ to her, she belongs to Edgar! You gave her up when you ran away and left her to marry him, instead of understanding that she loved you more!"

During the course of my yelling, I knocked the door open, surprising me due to the fact that I am not that strong, and that the door was always locked before. Creeping inside, I saw that behind the curtain shrouding the bed were two bodies locked in an embrace. Worried at the fact that Heathcliff seemed to be unfazed by my presence, I tentatively pulled the curtain back. To my horror, I discovered that Heathcliff was dead as well, and that the two were inseparable, locked together in the embrace of the dead. On the nightstand, I saw an ink splattered paper, with the pen and ink well upturned next to it, pooling shadows on the floor, and an empty vial. Picking up the paper, I was shocked to find it addressed to me.

_Dear Nelly (for I know it will be you who comes to discover what I have done) ,_

_I am sorry for betraying your trust, but I could not leave her in that house, surrounded by those false mourners, those who never knew her, or loved her, the way I did. Edgar is a pig, keeping her from me, never letting me see her, she who was my soul and I hers. He could never understand the relationship between us two. It had always eluded him; the way our Cathy could love an "uncivilized" man like myself, but that was because he could never feel the same depth of passion as the two of us. Anyway, you are probably wondering what I have done, and the plain truth is that without Cathy, my own life means nothing to me. I will soon be joining her in the afterlife, be it heaven or hell, and then we will never be separated ever again. The poison is even now flowing through my veins, creeping slowly towards the hole in my heart that was occupied by Cathy. I can feel the icy pain, my penance, and it is a relief. I am not much longer for this world, which no longer makes sense to me. I think I can see her spirit! She is waiting for me! Cathy, my dear, I'm coming my lo-_

And that is where it cut off, presumably when he had been in the last throws of his life, wrapping his arms around his love. Here, I still kept the letter. And at this point, with no other option left, I ran back downstairs, and to my horse. I had no choice but to explain to my master what I had done. Upon arriving back at the Grange, I found Linton still sprawled over the coffin, asleep, with the tears still staining his cheeks. Gently waking him, I told him of all that had occurred, from Heathcliff waiting patiently outside, to his taking of Miss Catherine, and finally to his death in her arms. Enraged that I had kept this from him, he almost slapped me, but restrained himself and took some of the men servants with him up to the Heights. After hours of work, they finally separated the two bodies, and once outside, set Heathcliff's aflame. Leaving his body to the pyre, they took Miss Catherine's back to the Grange, laying her back in her coffin, and reattaching her locket back around her neck. Once everyone had left the room, I quickly stole over to the coffin, gently opening her locket, where Linton's hair had reestablished its rightful place. Only considering it right, I pulled Heathcliff's lock out of my pocket, and gently twinned the two. Closing the locket again, I stole out of the room.

I was not invited to the funeral, as Linton was still furious with me, but she was buried in her families plot, and has remained there ever since.


End file.
